Philosophy Quote by Bertrand Russell

What should we gain by a definition, as it can only lead us to other undefined terms?

— Ludwig Wittgenstein

The word 'definition' has come to have a dangerously reassuring sound, owing no doubt to its frequent occurrence in logical and mathematical writings.

— Willard Van Orman Quine

Existence is beyond the power of words to define: Terms may be used But are none of them absolute.

— Witter Bynner

It would help if human experts agreed on the meaning of such basic terms as intelligence, consciousness, or awareness. They don't. It's hard to…

— Edward M. Lerner

A definition may be very exact, and yet go but a very little way towards informing us of the nature of the thing defined.

— Edmund Burke

Finally there are simple ideas of which no definition can be given; there are also axioms or postulates, or in a word primary principles,…

— Gottfried Leibniz

Definitions are temporary verbalizations of concepts, and concepts- particularly difficult concepts- are usually revised repeatedly as our knowledge and understanding grows.

— Ernst Mayr

What is a good definition? For the philosopher or the scientist, it is a definition which applies to all the objects to be defined,…

— Henri Poincare

One should not be too distracted by definitions. Ideas transcend definitions.

— Neil deGrasse Tyson

Odd that we think definitions are definitive.

— Larry Wall

Definitions… are never really needed, and rarely of any use

— Karl Popper

“For Aristotle’s essentialist definitions are the principles from which all our knowledge is derived; they thus contain all our knowledge; and they serve to…

— Karl R. Popper